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Tutorial: Installing NVDA Add Ons

This tutorial has been written by our Technical Support Officer Paul Traynor.

In these instructions we will look at what an NVDA add-on is and how to install such add-ons. To begin I would suggest anyone interested in checking out some of the excellent NVDA add-ons from the “the NVDA Community Add-ons website” which can be found at the following link;

“https://addons.nvda-project.org/index.en.html”

When you go to the above mentioned link you will find many nice add-ons to install into your NVDA screen reader.

What are add-ons and what is their purpose?

Add-ons are the equivalent to what many people know in JAWS as scripts. When you install an add-on into your NVDA software package it enhances the usability of the NVDA screen reader by providing some form of extra functionality specific perhaps to NVDA and some mainstream program that you use on the computer, giving NVDA extra abilities to work with that software package.

An example of this extra functionality NVDA add-ons provide is that if you are using NVDA on a touch screen device then there is an add-on you can download and install which actually adds extra touch gestures to NVDA for use on your tablet/touch screen device.

How to download and install an add-on

1. For this exercise we will go to the NVDA Community Add-ons website I mentioned earlier.

2. Now from this page take a look through it and see what kind of add-ons you may be interested in obtaining.

Notes: You can use your “Arrow keys” or “Tab key” to move through the various links or use the handy NVDA keyboard shortcut, “NVDA + F7”. This pulls up a list of all elements on the page including links to the various add-ons.

3. Once you reach a particular add-on you are interested in press “Enter key” once on it to move into the dedicated page for that particular add-on.

Notes: I am interested in downloading an add-on which gives extra functionality to NVDA for working with drop box.

4. Now when the dedicated page for the drop box add-on I am interested in opens up I move to the top of this page and then I press the NVDA “Headings key” which is letter “H” once.

Notes: This has the act of dropping my focus on the page down to where the link for downloading the particular add-on is located. Moving to this location on the page also gives me added information about the add-on I am interested in and how it works.

5. Once I am now focused on the area of the page where the “Download” link is positioned I look for that link by pressing the “Tab key” usually once and I am now on a link which indicates that this is the “Download link and stable version” of that link.

6. Press the “Enter key” once to begin the download. Notes: You will be asked if you wish to “Run or save” the download.

7. Choose “Run” and once the link completes the download it will begin to install.

Important: When the add-on is ready to be installed the “Windows security” screen may pop up and ask you if you are sure you want to run this item?

8. If the security screen prompts for this information, press the “Tab key” to the “Yes” button and press “Spacebar” once to confirm your intentions.

Notes: From here on the add-on will install pretty much by itself. If you had a previous version of the add-on already installed then you may get a notice that such an add-on is already present in NVDA and do you want to overwrite it. Just choose “Yes or OK” to continue if that is your wish at this stage.

9. Once the add-on has been installed, NVDA will indicate such and request that you allow it to be reloaded. Press “Spacebar” on the OK button and NVDA will first turn itself off then back on again to complete the process.